


Manors (Manners)

by MaggieMo



Category: The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: Clexa Week 2017, Clexa fanfic, Endgame Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Eventual Clarke Griffin/Lexa, F/F, Modern Setting Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Teen angst but without the teens or angst, clexa au, farm au, farmhand au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:05:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10133546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaggieMo/pseuds/MaggieMo
Summary: Clarke returns to Griffin Farm half a decade after leaving, when tragedy rears its ugly head for the second time.How will she cope with her homecoming?





	1. OL' JAKE

“Fuck.” Clarke mumbled while beginning to turn her steering wheel lightly towards the right side of the road, the sounds of rocks pelting up against the underside of her car and the clouds of dust that had been building up behind her quickly settling as she began to apply some pressure to the break. Her rusty red Ford Pinto wheeled itself to a slow stop, before beginning to sputter loudly at her, far to the shoulder of the dirt road; if there were even much of a shoulder on a dirt road, the right wheels of the car dipping down into the small dike on that side. Razzing her lips for a good moment she listened as the car continued in its noise, before she turned the car off, the engine almost sputtering and clanging at her by that point; taking a few tries to turn it on again, it rumbling back at her and each attempt, but doing nothing else. 

She hadn’t exactly needed to pull over as far as she had, knowing well enough this road was barely used, if ever at all. The grass in the dike next to her was bone dry, not the slightest bit of moisture available in any of it, which wasn’t exactly unusual for the summer. It had been such a long time since Clarke had come home, she had almost forgotten how scarce and hot the journey back was; not that she had ever paid much attention to it before then. Fields and fields and dirt roads in view. 

“This is not what I need right now, Jake.” She mumbled again, this time at her car; rolling her eyes and gripping tightly on the wheel before smacking her palms against it once to release what she could of her building frustration. Then taking not a second longer before leaning to the passengers side of the car and digging around in her duffel bag that was perched on the seat; hand finally reaching her phone after what felt like a moments-too-long of a struggle. Pulling it up and in front of her she clicked the home button and the screen lit up, the picture of her and her best friend Wells staring back. Her own face felt almost unrecognizable as she looked at it, hair much longer with a large amount of makeup covering her face; Wells’ hand was wrapped around her waist, a smile large on her and a grin the same on him as he looked to her and they posed with one another. She sighed, wincing her eyes closed for a long second before shaking her mind from thought and unlocking it to open the phone tab, the home screen changing to a photo of her and her University friends, each of them with drinks in hand; she smiled only lightly, blinking at the photo and almost begging herself to go back to it. Instead she brought her thumb down to the phone tab and clicked it, beginning to type in the number; only realizing as she finished that the signal bars at the top were empty and crossed out. 

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” She gaped, immediately clicking the button to lock her phone and chucking it aggressively back into her bag, mouthing another _fuck_ under her breath, perhaps three or four more times after that. She wasn’t exactly known for using a graceful vocabulary back at school, and she wasn’t about to get back into the habit of using one just for coming home. After a second she brought her hands back up to the steering wheel, smacking her palms heavily against it over and over, until they tingled lightly and she could see the redness forming on them. She moved them from the wheel and into her lap, huffing out once, all of her breath escaping her as she did; her blonde bangs flying up in front of her face and then settling back down.

It had been about ten minutes of staring at the empty road and fields before she pulled the keys from the ignition and stuffed them into her bag, bringing her fingers to her door handle and throwing it open; it swinging out and creaking loudly before she pulled herself from her seat and met the outside of the car, slamming the door closed behind her. She walked herself to the back of it, leaning herself against it; the sun caused the car to feel hot as she placed her hip down on it, which quickly had the heat begin to seep through her dress, her stubbornness and upset having her keep it there, even as the heat became unbearable and began to feel like it was burning her skin. Clarke ignored it and looked down the road where she had come from, the sun causing a mirage around her, the heat streaking up from the dirt and a little bit into the air, waving back and forth like water; she could feel sweat beading on her forehead as she remained in her place, clasping her eyes shut and wiping it from her before the sound of rumbling came up the road where she had been, a distinct clanking soon after it. Opening her eyes had her look down the road from where she was, a large light blue truck coming up it and towards her. She brought up her hand and shielded her face slightly, squinting her eyes to see the front of the truck. The hood of it protruded out above the lights just a bit, reminding her of the shape of a hammerhead shark. 

“Of course its a Chevy.” She smirked to herself, slightly chuckling at the sight of it; her dad had a truck just like it when she was growing up, though it hadn’t been in as rough of a shape. The look of it was almost calming as it got closer, and Clarke pushed herself off of the back of her car to meet the passengers side, pulling the door open and throwing her duffel bag over her shoulder, then lifting her hand up to the truck to wave it down, which had it slow as it approached her car.

“Having a bit of trouble?” The light voice came from the drivers side of the truck as it stopped next to her and the sound of the engine purred in its place, rocks finally settling back into the road from under it like it had when she was making her own way along the road.

“It kind of just died,” Clarke responded, shaking her head and walking herself to the passenger window before leaning her arms against it, “I’m just going to have to leave it here. I tried to call to get someone to pick it up, but I couldn’t find any service.”

“Were you really expecting to get any?” The girl laughed back immediately, not taking a beat between Clarke’s explanation and her own response; seeming to call her out on her slight bit of ignorance as they exchanged their only seconds long of conversation in the middle of God-knows-where. The girls hair was pulled back into a wavy and messy bun and chocolate brown, Clarke wasn’t quite sure of the length of it, but the front was swept around to the back and braided down the side, which kept her bangs from flowing in front of her face on one side; little bits of hair fell at the sides of her face even with the braid. She blinked a couple times, turning her face to Clarke’s, her green eyes meeting her own vibrant and peaceful; a smile was absent from her face, but the look of her eyes had made up for it. 

“I can give you a ride to where you were headed, if you’d like.” She added, pausing on Clarke’s expression and adjusting her jaw back and forth a few times. Clarke looked back at her Pinto in a slight moment of hesitation before another kind of rumbling came up the road behind them, having the girl adjust herself to look over her shoulder, a large tractor making its way towards where they were. The girl leaned to the passenger door and pushed it open before Clarke had even given her a response, it creaking with the familiar sound of the Pinto’s. The tractor had almost met with the back of the truck and began to slow, the driver smiling at Clarke as she finally nodded in a late response to the girl and piled herself in to the truck, bringing her duffle bag onto the seat first, which the girl dragged into the middle between them; then quickly closing the door behind her. There was no conversation as the truck pulled away from her car and Clarke watched it until it disappeared from what she could see from the side-view of the mirror, before she pulled her bag slightly closer to her and looked back to the girl driving. 

“I’m Lexa.” She finally told her, her right hand on top of the steering wheel and her opposite arm leaned on the ledge of the open window, hand up and gripping the lining of the window and some of the roof of the truck; the rocks along the road beginning to come up and hit the underside of it as it continued driving, more and more now getting louder as it picked up speed. 

Lexa wore a slightly dirty white t-shirt with what Clarke has assumed was a black sports-bra underneath, along with a pair of white-washed, grass stained jeans, the ends of them rolled up above her ankles. She looked at her for another moment, finally noticing a black and almost tribal looking tattoo that came down from about her shoulder to her elbow. Clarke smirked at the sight of it, like she had when she saw the truck coming up the road towards her; not expecting this girl to have something so dark and large on her arm when she seemed to be everything but.

“Clarke.” She responded, furrowing her eyebrows just slightly as she thought of the name she had been told, “Your name’s Lexa?” Clarke repeated, her voice peaking lightly at the end of it which formed it into more of a question than she had meant it to be.

“Alexandra.” Lexa quickly replied back, not taking a second in between just like before, then adjusting her jaw again and glancing to Clarke before looking back in front of her to the road. “You aren’t seriously questioning my name right now, are you?” She began to laugh, peaking her left eyebrow slightly, which Clarke could see in the rearview mirror. “It’s not everyday someone meets a girl named Clarke, I assumed my name was ordinary enough.”

“Sorry.” Clarke quickly responded and attempted to laugh back, shaking her head and realizing her questioning might have been a bit rude. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know you didn’t.” Lexa laughed again, before bringing her hand from outside the window and switching it to the steering wheel, moving her other to to the radio, clicking it on as the music coming from it attempted to play lowly through static. She glanced at Clarke a second time as she brought her hands back to where they had been, “Where were you headed to when your car broke down?” She asked, tapping her thumb against the wheel to what Clarke assumed was the beat of the song; she couldn’t make much of it out over the static.

Clarke hesitated another second before speaking, “Griffin Farm.” She finally replied, breathing out and glancing her head back to Lexa from where she had come to be looking out the window; fields and fields passing by as they continued along. “It’s the white manor up the road a ways, I’m not sure if you might have passed by it before. It’s a bit out of the way.” She shuffled around on the bench seat for a second, before bringing herself to look back out the window and to the fields, speaking almost silently to herself after she did. “It’s not like it would be hard that to miss.” She grumbled, her eyes watching the small batches of cows and other livestock as they grazed in different groups in the fields around them.

The laugh that formed from Lexa not even a moment later had Clarke look over to her in a quick bit of confusion. “So you’re the infamous Clarke Griffin?” She continued to laugh out, lengthening her saying of it to add a bit of emphasis, then opening her hand on the steering wheel before gripping back onto it; Clarke could see her smirk not faltering from her lips.

“Infamous?” Clarke questioned, peaking her voice and furrowing her brows as she looked over to Lexa who looked to her in the same instant, her expression not changing and laugh continuing about the cab of the truck, though quieter now than it had been.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, I work for Abby- your Mom.” Lexa finally added, her laugh coming back up and then down while her slight smile remained on her lips. She licked at them for a brief second and tucked the bottom one under her teeth, before releasing it. “Nothing too bad, I promise.” She finished after a longer second of silence than Clarke had really hoped for, wincing her eyes in a joking way and doing her best to cut the tension she knew had been created in between them. Clarke nodded, not really wanting to know what she had heard about her. Then thinking to herself for a brief moment before pulling up a question of her own.

“How many girls named Clarke have you met, exactly?” She asked, laughing lightly at the situation and bringing it up in an attempt to change what the conversation had come to. She wasn’t sure how much Lexa knew, but similarly, she hadn’t wanted to take the time to find out.

“None, so we’ll make that one, for now. Just you.” Lexa replied, laughing to herself again, “I should have guessed you were a Griffin when you told me your name. I wouldn’t expect there to be many blonde girls named Clarke travelling around out here.” She continued her laugh and Clarke glanced over to her after her words, herself laughing along just slightly. 

“You look a lot different in person than in the pictures Abby has up.” Lexa finished, which had Clarke sigh in a bit of tension, then rolling her eyes; not exactly wanting to know what pictures her Mom had left up in the house while she was away. Lexa continued her laugh and Clarke looked to her, listening to how it pitched at different points before seeming to settle in a squeak. It was a genuine laugh and the sound of it pulled away some of the tension Clarke had begun to build up when her car broke down, for the most part she enjoyed hearing it. She laughed along fully as well, turning her head only slightly to look in the rear view mirror and watch as Lexa’s nose scrunched up while she did; the shape of it settling in and out of normal form as her laughing finally ceased with Clarke’s, and their talking did along with it.


	2. IT'S CHANGED

The remainder of the drive to the farm was long and winding with a few turns along the way, the road going from mostly smooth and flat dirt to completely rough and bumpy with rocks, then back in an instant. Not much, if any, conversation came from either of them as Lexa drove the truck along the different roads, perhaps a few glances back and forth but nothing else; not even when the white manor of Griffin Farm finally came into view. 

The two story house was large and extravagant from the outside, you could only make out minuscule details of it from the road, able to see the porch that wrapped around the entirety of the first floor, with only one jutting out from the master room above it on the second. The large white wooden panelled barn matching it and off to the right side, a large field of pastures with white fences on the left, with different patches of trees around the fields and a straight row of them lining either side of the drive up to it; which you couldn’t have made out from this part of the road. Clarke tensed a bit at the sight of the house, which was soon being hidden by a large patch of trees against the road as they came back onto a smooth portion it, which took them directly to drive and the line of trees surrounding it.

The truck creaked as Lexa slowed and turned the wheel and they met with the road leading to the house. The gate announcing it was already open, unlike it had been most days when Clarke was growing up, the base in and touching the dirt and long grass on either side of it just beginning to rust; large letters of _Griffin Farm_ split in two with _Griffin_ on one half of the gate and _Farm_ along the other. They came immediately past it, Clarke watching the gate as they drove through, then focusing on the actual road to the house, which was completely encased by bushes and trees; the sun barely able to shine through it and the treetops above them feeling heavy and secure around the truck.

“It hasn’t changed that much.” Clarke mumbled out to herself, bringing her hand out the window and catching leaves in it as they continued along their way. Lexa just barely turned her head to her as the words left her mouth, smiling and nodding to agree as much as she could. The house finally showing at the end of the long road a moment later, white and predominant in front of them; the red bricks of the fireplace and foundation of the house giving a bit of contrast against it and the long grass and dirt drive surrounding the house. It was exactly the way she had remembered it being before she left, though perhaps not as bright. Clarke wasn’t exactly sure if it was the house itself that had become less vibrant throughout the years, or if the looming feeling in her chest made it seem that way.

They came to a creaking stop just a slight ways from the front porch, the breaks of the truck squeaking out as they did; the sound of Lexa putting it in park meeting with Clarke’s ears before she clicked off the engine, her remaining in her seat and staring blankly at the house. The creak from the drivers door opening next to her came before it slammed shut and the truck rocked slightly in place, Clarke not moving from the bench seat or noticing that Lexa had come to her door until she was looking directly at her.

“I know it probably feels like a lot for you.” Lexa said, looking to her with the bit of understanding that she could, before opening the door, which had Clarke do her best to pull herself out from whatever she had been thinking of; nodding lightly and climbing off the seat and out of the truck. Lexa smiled softly to her and grabbed the duffel bag from its place to sling over her own shoulder. “I dropped Abby off in town early this morning, so you’ll have some time to settle yourself in before she gets back.” Lexa told her, closing the truck door behind Clarke as she stepped a bit forward to the house.

“Thank you.” Clarke replied, looking back to her and smiling as best as she could, Lexa returning it. She nodded and turned around to the truck, standing up on her toes and digging for something in the glove compartment, the back of her neck and in between of her shoulder blades showing as she did; a tattoo peaking out from the strands of her hair back in the bun, another coming up from along her spine between her shoulders; it tugged at Clarke’s curiosity before a familiar voice called out to her from the barn.

“I know that isn’t my girl that just piled out of that truck.” It said, in what he could manage of a joking and slightly sarcastic tone. Clarke smiled widely as she turned her head and met with the face of Gustus, who wiped his grease covered hands on an already dirty rag and equally dirty clay coloured shirt before hanging it over his shoulder and picking up his pace towards her; his arms open and welcoming.

“Uncle Gus.” Clarke replied in a breathless whisper, already able to feel tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. She jogged herself as quickly to him as he had been doing to her, his arms embracing her tightly when they finally made contact. He picked her up slightly from the ground and spun her around once in place once or twice, his deep chuckle raspy and short, a slight wheeze coming at the end of it like it always had.

“Long time no see, Princess.” He added, their embrace parting slightly, Clarke continuing to lean her head against his chest, his chin meeting with the top of her head and hand rubbing back and forth along the top of her back and to each of her shoulders. “I wish our reunion wasn’t under these circumstances.” He said after a couple moments of embrace, having it spoken quietly enough for Clarke to hear, her grip on him tightening in an instant.

“Me too.” She responded, her emotions of the day already tiring enough as it was. The two released, having Clarke wipe her hands on her dress, Gus looking over to Lexa who stood with her bag at the truck.

“Now where’s Ol’ Jake?” Gus wheezed out, “I wouldn’t expect Lexa could have picked you up and gotten the both of you back here that quickly.”

“Her car broke down about twenty minutes out.” Lexa said from next to the truck, before Clarke had the time to respond. “Think you could help me get it started up?” She asked, Gus nodding and chuckling lightly at the situation.

“I knew you wouldn’t have made your way back out here without that Pinto.” He said, his laugh wheezing as he brought his arm back around Clarke’s shoulders and embraced her another time. “I’m surprised it made it that far!” He laughed again, rubbing Clarke’s back for another moment, “You go inside and get yourself settled, I should be heading to get your Mom and Thelonious soon.” 

“Lonely’s staying with us?” Clarke asked, her voice trailing off at the end of her question and her peaked and painful feelings a bit more apparent than she wished they would have been.

Gus nodded to her, “Now I expect you won’t be calling him by that this time around.” He finished, lifting his eyebrows at her like he would when she was being disciplined as a child.

“No, sir.” Clarke confirmed and then shrugged, “Force of habit.”

“I know it is.” Gus replied, squeezing her once more and then releasing, before moving to Lexa and taking the bag from her and bringing it into the house. Clarke stood at her place halfway in between the house and barn, Lexa moving past her and to it, returning a moment later with a red toolbox in hand. Gus came back out from the house not too long after, walking from it and directly to the truck, turning to Clarke to show her the keys her had pulled from her bag before coming outside. Lexa piled into the drivers seat and Gus met the passengers side before it started back up, chugging a few times before purring in place. 

“We’ll get Jake up and running, you take some time to relax after that drive!” He half shouted to her over the sound of the truck, opening the passenger door and pulling him self in before closing it.

Clarke did nothing but nod to him, doing her best to smile even though she hadn’t really wanted to. The truck clanked and roared as Lexa put it in drive and turned it for them to make their way back down the drive, the sound of the radio being turned up much louder now than she had had it on the way there with Clarke. The truck gained speed and soon disappeared from her view, the dust that had shot up behind them while on their way finally settling back on the dirt road. Clarke moved to the porch, climbing herself up the four steps and sitting on it, watching the main road until the truck appeared on it a moment later.

She breathed out, bringing herself to look about the empty farm in front of her. Their horses grazing in the pastures to her right, a few of the other livestock further out from them. After a while she stood, walking herself to the swinging bench from her place on the porch. It swaying back and forth as the movement settled into a rhythm and the shade allowed her to breathe easier in the heat, the silence of the manor a welcomed break from her emotions. 

“It’s changed.” Clarke said to herself, blinking her eyes shut for a long moment before shuffling her back to lean against the bench; it swaying back and forth in the breeze.


	3. OCTOPUS AND BIRD

The sigh that formed in the back of Clarke’s throat was loud and heavy as she entered inside from the porch. It echoing off of the walls of the empty house and through the main hall before coming back to her, the heat from outside immediately dispersing around her as the air from the house hit her cheeks. The staircase leading to the second level was immediately in front of the door, a large hall to the right side of them. The floors were a dark brown oak, banister and walls as white as the outside of the house; wainscoting made its way a bit over halfway up all of them. She stepped in, her flats clicking on the floor as they met with it, which startled her for a moment before before she rolled her eyes.

Clarke made her way up the staircase, bringing her hand onto the banister and running her fingers along it as she climbed them. Her fingertips meeting with some of the dents and chips that had been added and taken throughout the years; one of the spindles near the bottom of the stairs was still cracked at the base from when she and Wells rode down the stairs in sleeping bags as kids. The thought of it caused her to smirk, though for not even a second, before she shook it off and continued her way up, finally meeting with the large upstairs hall; her mothers room at the front of the house, opposite to hers which was at the back. She made her way through it, down and to the end, passing the bathroom and storage closet, before coming by the spare room to the right of hers. Her mother had many different pictures hung along the walls, more than Clarke had really cared to see or paid attention to. She brought her hand to her bedroom door handle as she met with it, beginning to open it before her attention moved from what she was doing to the picture hung next to her door. 

“Wells.” Clarke barely managed to mumble out, eyes studying the photo that had been printed much larger than all of the others; bringing her hand up to it and running her thumb along the glass, the layer of accumulated dust coming off with it. She finally brought herself to look to the rest of the photos that were now behind her, each of them of her and Wells; one of her father closer to the stairs, one of Lexa and Gus next to it. The realization of them caused her chest to tighten, though it wasn’t exactly a feeling she hadn’t already felt that day.

Her room hadn't changed in the years she was gone, the walls still the same shade of pastel yellow, bed still made up with her denim patterned blankets and white pillows and sheets. Her duffel bag was placed at the end of the bed on top of a spare throw, the top now zipped up and causing her to groan; it wasn’t like it was much effort to unzip the bag again, but she hadn’t wanted to do anything more than the minimum. Walking to her bed had her sit immediately on it, the mattress creaking under her, metal frame of the bed adjusting to her weight on it; it had been years since someone slept on it, let alone sat.

She laid back, the bed continuing its creaks as she rolled onto her side towards the bag and lifted an arm to unzip it, running her hand around in it for a moment; which felt like more of a struggle than it needed to be. It meeting with her keys and different clothes before she jammed her hand down the side and finally met with her phone.

Clarke lifted it out of the bag and brought it above her, clicking the home button to light up the screen; her almost wincing in anticipation of the picture that was waiting for her. She breathed out, looking directly at the screen as it looked back to her. The picture was slightly blurred out, which was a thankful sight at this point, instead three new texts messages and two missed phone calls sat on the screen:

Bird: _I was expecting some sort of paragraph about how shitty the place is, by now._

Bird: _Missed call (2)_

Bird: _We should have come with you._

Octopus: _Raven won’t shut up about feeling guilty over us not coming to Farmville._

The message from Octavia gave Clarke a minute to laugh and blank out, as well as she could, the laughing coming harder than she had expected it to be, considering it wasn’t all that funny. Although her emotions had built up too much to be considered rational by that point. 

She unlocked her phone, looking to the signal bars which were now almost completely full before clicking onto the favourites tab from where it had remained with a half typed in phone number; hovering her thumb back and forth over Raven and Octavia’s names before finally clicking on one of them. The residual noise from the phone hummed at her ear before ringing in an almost static buzz just a few times, much like the radio in the truck had on her way there; the phone on the other end finally picking up after a couple more rings.

_“So the mighty Griffin lives.”_

“Sorry O, my car broke down. It took a while longer to get here than I had planned.”

A raspy laugh, _“That’s just your luck, isn’t it?”_

_“Is that Clarke?”_

A slight muffling of voices came through the phone, Clarke remaining on her back on the bed, different statements from Octavia and Raven filling her ear before she sat up and moved to the built-in seat under her window; looking out from it to the fields spanning behind the house. Her eyes scanning along the trees and to the small building in the back where they stored hay.

_“My god, Reyes, you have quite the grip.”_ Another muffled statement from Octavia made its way through the phone just enough for Clarke to make out, a few swears thrown around after.

_“Clarke!”_ Raven’s voice came out loud and clear, causing Clarke to shift the phone away before clicking the volume down at least three times; maybe a couple more than that. 

_“Your car broke down? Did you make it to the farm at least? Where are you?”_

“I’m at the farm,” Clarke replied, readjusting the phone against her ear as she heard a sigh of relief from Raven, “I broke down twenty minutes out, I got a ride the rest of the way.”

_“Oh, a ride?”_ Raven’s voice echoed teasingly from the phone, _“She got a ride the rest of the way there, Octavia.”_ She told.

_“Tell us it was a worthwhile ride, Grif. Was it from a hot boy?”_ Octavia’s voice teased at her the same way Raven’s had, it going from quiet to louder as Clarke heard more muffling and Raven added her own bit to Octavia’s question.

_“Or at least a hot girl.”_ Raven added, not making her statement a question, then peaking her voice as the two of them making silly noises at the same time from the other end, _“Ohhhhh!”_

“She works here on the farm.” Clarke managed to smirk and let out a light chuckle in between each of their joking sounds.

_“She!”_ Raven squealed, a huff from Octavia before she began again,

_“So what is it, she’s too old for you, Griffin? Too bulky? The working type, so not your type?”_ Octavia laughed out, Clarke able to hear the echo of both of them through the phone as they changed it to speaker.

“No, she’s fine.” Clarke replied, feeling slightly defensive and letting out a little huff as both of their muffled jokes and giggles from the other end of the phone turned into multiple _Mhm’s_ and _Sure’s._ The conversation carrying on that way for a little while before it stopped, Raven asking Clarke different questions about her Mom and the farm; the responses from her becoming less as she did; the conversation being fuelled by Raven’s increased curiosity. “I haven’t seen Abby yet.” “She’s in town.” “Yes, I’m sure she got my message about coming.” “It wouldn’t be the first time she forgot about me, I wouldn’t put it past her.” “Could you come up with a question about someone other than my Mom?” A sigh, “I hadn’t seen him in five years.”

_“You okay, Griffin?”_ Octavia finally asked, pulling the phone away from Raven who released an unhappy _Hey!_ in the background as she was interrupted in her questioning. Octavia shoving her which had a swear come from her instead, before she clicked the phone off speaker.

“Mm,” Clarke hummed at her, pausing for a second before bringing out the rest of her reply, “Lonely is staying with us for the week.” She told her.

_“Wells’ dad?”_ Octavia asked.

“Yeah.” Clarke confirmed, pulling her phone away from her ear and huffing out. “I guess it’ll be easier for him to be with us than be alone.”

The conversation between them was mostly silent for the next few minutes, Raven and Octavia doing their best to say what they could to ease what Clarke was feeling, though none of what they did did much to help; not that Clarke was going to tell either of them that.

_“You know we’ll come and get you if you need us to.” Raven said softly._

“I know.” Clarke returned to her, nodding from her place in front of the window, even though no one had been there to see it. “I’m hoping they’ll have Jake up and running in time for the funeral, I don’t think I’ll last here for a couple of weeks like I had planned.”

The three of them said their goodbyes not long after that, Raven saying it one time too many before Octavia wrestled the phone away and chuckled a final _Later Griffin_ , before hanging up. The cease of their conversation bringing Clarke back to the emptiness of her room and the house; eyes watching the fields outside her window for longer than she had really wanted to.


	4. INDENTS

“Try starting it again!” Gus yelled out, just loud enough that it could be heard over the music blaring from the truck’s radio. Lexa brought her hand up and turned the keys in the ignition again at his request, it sputtering the first time, her trying it once more, it humming for a second before choking back to life. She relaxed in the seat, poking her head out of the window as Gus made a victorious yelp and slammed the hood of the car down, rubbing his hands thoroughly on his rag; it didn’t help much, his hands were almost always stained with oil. 

“Just as easy as its always been.” He said to himself, which was just loud enough for Lexa to hear from inside of the car; Gus chuckling out in a raspy wheeze after he finished.

“You say that for all of the things that take us the better part of the afternoon!” Lexa joked back, smiling to him before bringing her head back into the cab and switching on the air conditioning; the car continuing to run as smoothly as it could manage. The sun had began setting by the time they got it started again, which was a welcomed relief to some of the heat.

“If we can fix whatever it is we’re trying to fix, its easy!” Gus returned to her, continuing to rub his hands on the rag before walking from the front of the car to the drivers side. “Why don’t you make your way back to the farm.” He said, slinging the rag over his shoulder and leaning his arms onto the ledge of the window; the same as Clarke had on the truck when Lexa pulled up. “I can head into town with the truck to get Abby and Thelonious. You drive the Pinto back to the farm for Clarke.” 

“Are you sure she wouldn’t rather you be the one to drive it?” Lexa asked, glancing up at the visor above her; an old picture of Clarke and Jake tucked into it and looking down at her.

“I think she’ll only care about it being back, not about who the one that brought it back for her was.” Gus replied, glancing up to the photo and looking back to Lexa, who he met with a nod of reassurance. She returned a smile before he pushed away from the window and tapped on the roof of the car, walking himself away from it and towards the truck. 

“We’ll see you in a couple of hours!” He yelled back, the static-surrounded bits of music from the truck carrying out around them.

Lexa smiled again, watching as he climbed into the truck and pulled it away from the side of the road in front of her, going in the opposite direction from the way she was facing; Gustus waving to her from the drivers window as he passed. She remained in her place and tapped her thumbs along the steering wheel for a moment, before switching the car into drive and pulling off of the side herself, meeting with the middle of the road and picking up a bit of speed; the sounds of the rocks pelting up as they hit the belly of the car. 

The drive back was much smoother than it would have been in the truck, the body of it not bouncing around or shifting at each of the changes in the uneven dirt. She slid her hand along the top of the wheel as she turned a corner, her fingers meeting some slight indents in it as she did. She paused as she stopped turning and ran her fingers slowly along it a second time, fingers dipping in on the spots like they had at first. She hadn’t realized they were indents from where Clarke gripped the wheel until she passed her fingers over them a third time; finally stopping her hand at the top of the wheel again, smirking as she thought of how low Clarke seemed to hold onto it. Completely opposite to herself, as she drove with only one hand at the top of the wheel.

She furrowed her brow as she continued to think of the feeling of the indents, confused at first to why she was so intrigued of where Clarke held it; the thinking of it continuing to spark her curiosity before she moved her hand back to them, each of her fingers connecting in the worn spots perfectly. It was another moment of thinking before she brought her other hand from its place along the top of the window and roof of the car, running it along the wheel and into the indents on the opposite side. The position they were now in causing a smirk to grow across her face, the feeling of this new to her; the wheel in the Pinto wasn’t quite as thick or large as the one in the truck. She liked the feeling of it against her palms as she settled into holding it, not moving her hands from their new found places for the rest of the drive back to the farm. 

By the time she could see the white of the house from the road, the sky was only partially lit up by the sun that had, by then, almost completely set. Her and Gustus’ attempt and success at starting the Pinto back up took the better part of three hours as well as the rest of the days sun. She met with the dirt drive up to the manor, the trees overhead feeling much larger to her now than they had, the car lower to the ground than the truck was; Lexa couldn't think of the last time she had driven something other than it. She arrived in the small courtyard in front of the house, turning around and driving the car to park a little ways from the barn on a patch of grass that was bald in certain spots, the areas worn from parking the truck on it.

Pressing her foot on the brake had the car come to a steady stop, to which Lexa took it out of drive and switched it into park, turning the keys in the ignition off and pulling them out; its running hum silencing and the sounds of the crickets in the fields around her filling her ears instead. The lights on the porch were off and the only one she could see on inside of the house was the upstairs hallway; she didn't think much about it. 

The car door creaked as she pushed it open and exited from the cab, flipping the keys around in her hand before clasping it shut and closing the drivers door behind her. She walked to the porch and made her way up the few steps, meeting with and then opening the front door of the house; a distinct clinking noise meeting with her ears as she pushed it open, followed by the sound of rolling glass. Lexa brought her hand up to the wall and shifted it along to find the light switch, meeting it after a moments struggle and finally flicking it on as she brought herself around the door and entered inside completely; the main hall of the house now lit up by it.


	5. WINE (WHINE)

Lexa looked down at the floor now that the light was on; a bottle of wine finished rolling across the room and stopped with a clink against the bottom of the stairs. She closed the door behind her, which clicked in place as she did, before she moved herself a bit to the left and placed the keys to the Pinto on the table next to the door. No noise came back to her from the house, or Clarke, which prompted her to move forward and grab the bottle from the floor; it showing to her empty. She grazed her bottom lip with her teeth in thought at the sight of it. 

Lexa flipped the bottle around in her hand a few times before turning from the stairs and going towards the kitchen, which was now on her left, walking herself in and flicking on the lights; the white cabinets, farmhouse sink, and tan bark-coloured butcher block counter tops looking back at her. She walked to the sink before pausing in her approach, tilting her head to look towards the kitchen table; her eyes meeting with two more bottles of wine, which she could tell were empty by the way the light from the kitchen shone through them. A broken and partially filled wine glass standing next to the two of them, some of the wine spilled along the top. She felt slightly concerned at the sight of multiple empty bottles and even more so as she realized the overwhelming silence of the house around her, knowing well enough that one bottle would have been enough to put Abby down for the night; if not the morning after as well. Lexa moved to the table and picked up the couple of empty bottles, bringing them to the sink with the other that she had left next to it, rinsing the three of them out before going back to the table with a damp rag to clean up the spilt wine and pieces of broken glass. 

It wasn’t until she reached the table for the second time and brought the cloth to the glass that she realized each of them were coated in bits of blood; what she thought was wine spilt along the table actually its own puddle of it. Her breath caught as she dropped the cloth on top of it all, hastily wiping what she could up before grabbing the bits of broken wine glass from the table to throw away; the sounds of them clinking into the garbage under the sink as she leaned her hands along the lip of it, sighing out heavily.

The house around her remained silent for a little while longer, having Lexa assume Clarke must have gone to bed, thinking (mostly trying to convince herself) that she wouldn’t have been able to drink that much alcohol without passing out. She turned herself around from the sink, looking out the large front window of the kitchen to the courtyard, the sun having now finally disappeared completely from the sky; debating to herself back and forth of whether or not to check on Clarke upstairs. Blinking had her adjust her body around and look back at the bottles, grabbing each of them by the necks before the sound of banging and struggling shot out loud and harsh from the stairs; causing her to drop them quickly back into the sink.

“Shit.” Clarke murmured out, groaning and mumbling a few other choice words as she did her best to push herself up from the bottom of the steps; a heavy stinging pain shooting through her as she did, despite how numb she thought she had felt from the wine. Lexa whipped herself out of the kitchen and into the hall before meeting the floor with her knees in front of Clarke, grabbing at her arm and hand while trying to adjust her into a seated position. Clarke winced out at the grip of their hands together, which had Lexa quickly release pressure from it; noticing a good amount of blood that had transferred from hers onto her own.

“Try not to move.” Lexa said hastily, running back into the kitchen and pulling a new cloth from the drawer by the sink, before returning to Clarke and half tripping while trying to get back onto her level. She pulled up the cloth to press it against her palm, Clarke groaning out another time in discomfort, doing her best to shift around in place and avoid Lexa’s help completely. Lexa looked down at her, pressing the cloth as firmly as she could into her hand, catching the look of Clarke’s face in the process. She hesitated before bringing her opposite hand up to Clarke’s chin, tilting her head to see her lip was split; the blood from it fresh and easily rolling down her chin onto her dress.

“Fuck off-” Clarke painfully choked out, shrugging her shoulders and tilting her head from Lexa’s hand; which she quickly pulled back.

“Clarke, you’re bleeding,” Lexa replied, “can you hold still for just a second?” She asked, bringing the rag up from Clarke’s palm and ripping it in half with her teeth, tying one part of it around her hand as well as she could before attempting to bring the other to her lip.

“I said fuck off!” Clarke yelped, shoving Lexa backward from her which caused her elbows to collide with the floor; her letting out a sound of discomfort as she readjusted herself in place. “I’m not like Abby, I don’t need your help.” Clarke added, which confused Lexa for only a moment before she went on mumbling a few other words to herself that didn’t quite fit together, pulling herself up from the floor by the banister of the stairs and coming to her feet.

“I know you don't.” Lexa spoke again, doing her best to say what she thought Clarke would want to hear; watching her from her place on the floor as she stumbled past her towards the front door, taking a moment to lean on the table next to it. Lexa turned herself onto her knees, pushing up to stand with one of her hands; her elbow throbbing as she did. 

“Gus is going to be back with your Mom and Thelonious soon, why don’t we wait for them?” She half pleaded, not quite sure of what Clarke had wanted to do but trying to keep her voice as calm as she could. Clarke grunting back to her in disagreement not even a second later; her hand fumbling around with the table and door before she flung it open and quickly stepped out. Lexa not entirely realizing she had grabbed the keys from their place until she saw the light from the hall reflecting off of them from Clarke's hand; by that point she had already managed her way down the porch stairs. 

“Wait- Clarke!”

Clarke’s breath was hot and her mouth stained with the flavour of red wine as she hurdled herself towards her Pinto, the keys clinking around in her hand as she did. Lexa’s yells for her to stop getting louder and then silencing as she heard her feet meet with porch stairs, Clarke not doing much to waver from her walking to the car, instead picking up the slightest bit of speed she could in her drunken state; meeting with the drivers door a moment later and pulling it open while doing her best to clamber herself inside. Her ears rang loud enough for the words of Lexa to fall short of them, nothing she said exactly making sense; the movement of her own hands her focus instead. She fidgeted around with the keys until she grabbed the one to the car; doing her best to jam it into the ignition as she blinked and then reopened her eyes. 

“Clarke, stop!” Lexa’s voice finally trailed in firmly past the ringing, which caused Clarke to shake her head in place. Her vision focusing on the many different parts of the interior of the car around her; the roaring of it starting and headlights lighting up the dirt drive in front of both of them. 

“Clarke!” Lexa continued to yell, over and over, before Clarke brought her hand to the gear shift, pressing on the brake and trying to change it as well as she could. She had pulled it back and shot her eyes to look out the windshield, Lexa’s hand meeting with the top of hers a second later. She began gripping it tightly against the gear shift, her fingers forcing their way between it and into her palm before digging her nails into the rag she had just tied around it; pressing hard until Clarke flinched away.

“Fuck-” she mumbled out in a slight bit of pain, blinking more times than could have been counted and shaking her head over and over. “Stop it-” She breathed out at Lexa, just a second before the headlights of the car shut off and the drive went dark, the usual humming the car made while started quitting in the same instant. 

The air was silent besides the now obvious sounds made by the chirping crickets, which had Clarke lift her hands up to her face and rub along it in a breathy grunt; causing her to smear some of her blood from her palm and lip along her cheeks before she screamed out and began hitting her hands on the steering wheel. The horn honking a few times as she collided with it. Lexa stepped back and flipped around, slinking her back down the side of the car until she met with the ground. She stared down the drive as she heard Clarke begin crying in muffles from inside of the car, the hitting of her hands against the wheel becoming more aggressive as her crying did. 

“Stop.” Lexa said to her, much quieter now than her yelling had been not even a moment before. Clarke’s struggling upset continuing and her winces of pain seeping through it as she hit her hands harder over and over; the car beginning to shift and move in place. 

“Clarke.” Lexa spoke again, trying to keep her voice from becoming firm, as she became increasingly aggressive from the drivers seat. It was when Clarke’s throat squealed out in obvious pain that Lexa quickly stood herself from the ground and met her hands, snatching them from their movement before they could collide with the wheel again; Clarke continuing to try and hit them forward despite it. 

“Clarke- Stop it- Clarke, listen to me!” Lexa firmly spoke, just loud enough that it could be heard over Clarke’s whines, which made her partially refrain from her hitting; her hands now being restrained against her chest. Lexa’s moved herself halfway into of the drivers side of the car, pulling Clarke onto her lap until she was almost completely in the seat.

“I’m not like Abby-” Clarke repeated, her voice peaking at the end of the name and a sob of regret coming from her throat. The air of the car smelling heavily of wine and cigarettes, her sobbing out more and more as Lexa crossed her arms in front of her and pressed them into her chest. Clarke released a bit more of her tension and finally sat back after a few moments, leaning her head into Lexa, her own emotions tugging at her to come through as she held her in place; beginning to sway both of them back and forth.

“I know.” She replied, answering her after it with a soft _Shh_ while making sure to keep a good bit of restraint on Clarke’s arms, even after she felt her moment of anger and wanting to harm herself had passed. Lexa released some of her own breath, which burned at her chest after she realized she had been holding it in. Her eyes looking up to the sun visor above the both of them; able to make out the picture of Clarke and Jake watching them, its corner now bent and more than half of it hanging out from its previously tucked in placement. 

“I know.”


	6. WE CAN WAIT

Lexa’s eyes blinked open and closed a few times at the sound of clunking, which she immediately recognized as the truck making its way to the house from the road. She breathed out and in through her nose to pull herself from sleepiness, which returned to her with the smell of wine and cigarettes like it had not long before, though this time it wasn’t as strong as it had been. Tilting her head to the left, from where she had it leaning on the headrest before she fell asleep, she looked down the drive, noticing as the headlights from the truck begin creeping slowly along it and towards the manor; the streaks of the light from them almost cutting their way through the leaves of bushes and trees surrounding the road. She breathed out heavily only once, realizing her discomfort in the position she had fallen asleep, but not wanting to make too much noise; the arm that was still holding Clarke’s up and against her now tingling about in sleepiness and pain, her feet beginning to do the same. 

Adjusting her place as slowly as she could manage, Lexa carefully moved down her arm and brought it in between herself and Clarke to steady her in place, Clarke humming out drunkly and sleepily as Lexa moved herself out from under her; somehow making it from the cab of the car to outside without disturbing her too much. She felt a bit of relief having not woken up Clarke in the process, unsure exactly of how she would have reacted to being awoken in her, no-doubt, still drunken state. The last thing either of them needed was Abby coming home to this. 

She flicked out the wrist of her asleep arm a few times, before doing the same to each of her feet, hoping it would bring at least a slight relief to her from the excessive tingling. It didn’t do much, so she ignored the feeling and dipped her head back into the car, leaning inside to bring her arms back to Clarke. Lexa did her best to slowly fold her over onto her right side, doing what she could to avoid laying her directly across the gear shift; her blonde hair meeting with the leather of the passengers seat before her head did. 

By time she got Clarke as flat as she could have along front seats, the headlights of the truck were beating directly onto Lexa’s back, which caused her a slight bit of panic as she pushed Clarke’s feet into the car and pulled herself out; closing the drivers door briskly and giving herself a quick breath, the smell of wine and cigarettes now absent from her. The music coming from the truck’s radio hit her ears not a second later, which she turned around to face, her movement being greeted by a wave of hello from Abby before the music was clicked off. Gus stopped the truck directly in front of the porch, a good enough ways from where Lexa had parked the Pinto; not having them anywhere near the car caused her a bit of relief.

“Gus told us that Clarke arrived this afternoon!” Abby called to her from the truck, voice peaking and forming as much of a smile as she could muster on her face. She pushed open the door of the truck and piled out of the passengers seat into the courtyard as Lexa nodded at her words and walked forwards to meet her; not wanting Abby, or any of the three of them, for that matter, anywhere near the car. Lexa made it almost all the way to the porch by time Thelonious exited from the passenger door like Abby had.

“She did! Just had a little bit of car trouble on the way.” Lexa replied, hesitating only slightly before bringing her hands to the back of her jeans and wiping her hands along them; adding a false amount of excitement to the tone of her voice to match Abby’s.

“Is she inside?” Abby asked, voice sounding a bit anxious as she walked to the back of the truck with Gus and he grabbed out a few bags; her taking one and Gustus placing the other two on the ground, Thelonious chatting something with him a second later.

“No she’s-” Lexa began to croak out, which had Abby flip a gaze at her in confusion while crooking her head to the side, Gustus meeting Lexa’s eyes with his own look of suspicion from the tailgate of the truck. Lexa’s voice stopped at her throat in a hum of _Ahh,_ for just a moment, before she managed the words to say in its place.

“Clarke took one of the horses out a little while ago. She was stressed from the drive, but she should be back soon.” Lexa managed to lie.

“Well isn’t that just like her?” Abby answered back, trying her best to keep her smile and half whispering it out before a slight bit of disappointment stuck to her face. She glanced back to Thelonious and Gustus, before smiling from the corner of her lip at Lexa and walking towards the house, Thelonious following and stopping at Lexa while Gus closed the tailgate.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Thelonious said as he moved to her, the two of them sharing in a quick moments embrace.

“Yeah, you too.” Lexa replied, voice softer now than it had been all night. Feeling slightly guilty at him having to be there before she released from him and tucked her hands into her front jean pockets; shrugging up her arms. Thelonious formed what he could of a smile and then continued his way to the porch, up it and inside the house; the door closing after him.

“There’s some blood on your shirt.” Gustus said in a low and sarcastic tone, pointing out what he assumed would have already been obvious to her. He placed the bags from the back right-side-up and moved to the drivers door, climbing into the truck and turning it on before pulling away from the porch; Lexa’s eyes following him as he pulled next to the Pinto. 

His words caused her to fumble her hands around in her pockets before pulling them out, making sure he couldn’t see her as she looked down at her white shirt in a quick bit of panic; noticing a smudge of blood across the collar of it, another bit clustered along her shoulder. She lifted her eyebrows to the truck as Gus got out and slammed the door, him slowing as he walked past the car, his own eyebrows lifting at what Lexa knew was his recognition of Clarke. He hummed out and walked forward, past Lexa and to the bags, picking them from the ground and making his way up the steps. 

“I’ll meet you back out here in a bit and we can wait for Clarke together.” Gustus said to her in the same tone as before, shooting a quick glance back at Lexa as he walked across the porch and into the house; closing the door behind him.

Lexa sighed out to herself as the door clicked shut before she rubbed her hand harshly across her cheek, rolling her eyes into the back of her head and meeting her fingertips to the bottom of her chin and lip. She turned herself back to face the Pinto, focusing her eyes on the front and through the windshield, able to make out some of Clarke from where she stood in the courtyard. Lexa took another minute of standing before she walked forward to the front of the car, turning to lean herself on the hood and crossing her ankles. Then she sighed again, tilting her head up to look at the moon and stars, the chirping of crickets settling back into her ears.


	7. TELL THE BIRD

Gustus opened the front door of the house no more than fifteen minutes after he had gone in, it creaking and meeting with Lexa’s ears at the car, which had her look up from the ground and meet with Gustus’ eyes before she looked back down and kicked firmly at the dirt.

“How long has she been in there?” Gus asked her as he came down the steps and across the courtyard, his voice coming out slightly disappointed while almost sympathetic; Lexa knew by his face that it wasn’t a disappointment he hadn’t felt before.

“At least an hour.” Lexa replied, pushing herself off the hood and standing as Gus met her; turning herself to face the windshield. “She tried to drive the car.” She finished.

“She did, didn’t she.” Gus let out, not questioning what Lexa had told him and instead nodding his head a few times. “It’s not the first time she's done that.” He added, really speaking it out to himself, then clearing his throat and humming before looking past Lexa to the car; Clarke’s hip and shoulder noticeable from where they stood, still leaned over on her side, body rising and falling in her heavy, drunken breaths. 

Lexa had clearly heard his addition of words, but didn’t ask, knowing well enough how Abby had been when she first started working at the farm. It was at least three times a week she would threaten to drive away in the truck; even more often Gus would have to collect her off the floor from the bottom of the stairs. Everything Clarke had done tonight was what Abby had done time and time again; Lexa clasped her eyes shut at the realization. 

“We’ll take her to my room for now,” Gus said to her, “Abby doesn’t need this.” Lexa nodded to him, following him from the front to the door of the car as he opened it and leaned inside, running his arms under Clarke and lifting her up slightly. Slipping her carefully across the seat and out; him minding her head on the roof as well as he could. 

“Try not to close the door loudly.” He said to Lexa, adjusting Clarke in his arms and bouncing her up, doing his best to make sure her head wasn’t hanging back too far; much like you would do with an infant. He frowned at the blood that had, by then, dried along her face and built up with wine along her dress. 

“Why don’t you go inside and clean yourself up first, grab a pair of clothes for Clarke while you’re at it.” He mostly instructed, adjusting Clarke around once more, bringing the hand supporting her neck to the side of her face in the process; moving her hair from in front of it.

Gustus gave one last glance at Lexa as she nodded to him, before he walked around the open door of the car and past her, making his way from there and towards the house; not going to the front doors and instead walking through the grass around the left side. 

Lexa remained standing next to the car as she watched him until he disappeared around the corner of the house, Clarke’s blonde hair reflecting some of the light from the moon along it; it hanging down past Gustus’ arm, just enough for her to see, waving lightly back and fourth.

She closed the door of the car as quietly as she was able to, the handle of it clicking in place as she pressed her palm to it and leaned against the door; doing her best not to think too heavily of the events of the evening. The walk across the courtyard to the front door felt longer than it ever had as she made her way, Lexa finally meeting the porch and the door and walking herself inside. Her shoes clicked on the wood floor of the hall as she closed the door behind her, the light from the pantry in the kitchen on; which caused her a bit of discomfort, hoping whoever it was hadn’t seen Clarke being taken out of the car.

As she looked she sae that Abby was illuminated in it, shuffling something around from inside; not facing the window. Lexa’s immediate reaction was to look to the sink, chest tight at the thought of Abby seeing the empty bottles where they had been left. None of them available to her eyes as she looked, a part of her hoping Gustus had moved them before Abby had seen they were there. A large amount of relief flushed out both of her worries a second later.

Lexa wasn’t quite sure of whether or not to start a conversation, so she said nothing, instead removing her shoes next to the door and tucking them under the table beside her; then pulling the car keys out from her back pocket and placing them down on top of it.

“Thank you for getting her the rest of the way here.” Abby said from the pantry, which startled Lexa and had her look over her shoulder to her; knowing she was speaking of Clarke.

“It was no problem.” She easily replied, wiping her hands along the back of her jeans and meeting them in her pockets like she had when they arrived back in the courtyard. “I was on my way back from town when I saw her on the road.” Abby nodded at her with her back still turned, flicking off the light in the pantry and closing the door as she flipped around and faced Lexa, making her way through the kitchen to the hall. 

“Either way,” Abby added, “thank you.” Then a quick sigh, “She probably would have found an excuse to get out of being here if you hadn’t picked her up.”

“What do you mean?” Lexa immediately asked, not entirely meaning to; her voice a bit quieter as Abby exited the kitchen and met her in the hall.

“If you hadn’t already been on your way here, she probably would have asked for a ride to the bus station.” Then a sigh, “Or maybe she wouldn’t have.” Another breath, “I shouldn’t be making assumptions of her.” 

Lexa nodded in a slight bit of sympathy and agreeance before Abby shook her head and looked back to her, eyes meeting onto her white shirt. 

“You have some blood on-”

“I got a nosebleed this afternoon.” Lexa quickly lied in hesitation, Abby’s statement not having enough time to completely leave her mouth by the time Lexa responded. “While Gustus and I were getting the car started up. It must have been because of the heat or something.” 

She finished her lying before the guilt from it began forming in her chest. Lexa hadn’t needed a reason to lie to Abby since she started working for her four years prior, and now here she was, Clarke, the girl she had really just met, causing her to lie twice in one night. All Abby did was nod in return, trying to bring a bit of a false smile onto her face.

“Well, let’s hope Clarke is still in here in the morning and didn’t take the horse to the bus station.” Abby laughed, partially, covering up a bit of pain before nodding lightly at her own words, “See you in the morning.” She added, bringing her hand up to Lexa’s arm and squeezing it, before Lexa smiled at her with a nod as she released.

Lexa stood next to the door until Abby had made it all the way up the stairs, then taking herself from the door and down the hall a bit; meeting the pocket door under the stairs that opened into a small powder room. Lexa could feel the dried blood sitting on her palm the entire time she waited outside, the feeling of it becoming overwhelming after a while. She slid the door open and walked in, closing it behind her before moving to the sink and bringing her hands to its handles. The brown of the blood turned red again as warm water ran over her palms, it dribbling into the white of the sink and washing down the drain; a bit of relief overcame her as the red disappeared and her hand felt completely hers again.

She made her way from the powder room to the stairs and up them after drying off her hands, meeting with the darkness of the upstairs hall and walking towards Clarke’s room. Her own the guest room to the right of it. Lexa met the door and pushed it open, going to the small white dresser that stood against the wall next to the large bedroom window, the bed situated in the middle of the one on the opposite side; the walls of the room were white like the rest of the house, blankets on the bed grey and old. It didn’t take long for Lexa to grab a new t-shirt from the dresser to bring on, plopping it down on the bed before removing her (now ruined) white shirt and letting it fall to the floor at her feet; the baggy navy-blue one she changed into bunching up its fabric around her hips as it slipped completely over her head. 

A part of Lexa hadn’t exactly wanted her to make her way back downstairs and to Gustus’ house, the evenings events exhausting her to a point she hadn’t felt in a very long time. She mustered a sigh and leaned down to grab her white shirt from the floor, throwing it into the basket in the closet, thinking to herself at the same time; knowing well enough that she could bring the change of Clarke’s clothes to Gus and then come back to her room for the night.

She finally decided to leave her room and go to Clarke’s for clothes, opening the door with a slight creak and looking towards the bed; what seemed like all of the contents of her duffel bag thrown out along the floor and the covers of her mattress. Lexa did her best to ignore the reason behind her room looking how it did and stepped in, eyes meeting to a bottle of wine tipped over and dripping on the desk in the corner; she moved to it quickly, picking it off its side and placing it upright. 

Her eyes rolled at the bit of spilt wine before she retreated to her room and came back with her ruined shirt, soaking up what had collected on the floor with it. She tossed it over her shoulder after, similar to the way Gustus had always slung his oil-stained rag over his, and looked around the room for a pair of clothes to grab; not all that worried about the wine that may or may not have seeped into her navy-blue shirt in the process. 

A shirt and sweatpants were picked out after a second of looking, before Lexa placed them down on the bed and began collecting the rest of the clothes from the floor, piling them together as she did. She did her best to shove them all back into the duffel bag after she grabbed them, her hand pushing the last of them down before a vibrating noise caught her ears from under the bed; startling her for only a second. 

Lexa knelt down and leaned herself forward to look under the bed, eyes scanning the underside of it as the buzzing continued; grabbing another piece of clothing, or two, out of the way before the light of Clarke’s phone screen could be seen from where she was. It took an extra moment of adjusting her arm around before she met her hand to it, pulling it out from under the bed and plopping it on top of the clothes in the bag. She didn’t think much of it and moved her attention back to the change of clothes, grabbing them before the phone buzzed again and she turned her head to look at it, the contents on the lock screen showing to her:

Bird: _Where did you manage to get wine from?_

Bird: _Clarke, you promised yourself you wouldn’t start drinking again._

Bird: _Missed Call (7)_

_New Voicemail (3)_

Bird: _You’d better fucking call me back._

Bird: _Can I at least get a reply, Clarke?_

The texts, calls and voicemails from Raven spanned from over the last hour and a half, the most recent notification coming through while Lexa stared down at the phone; her mind debating whether or not to reply. She hummed at herself, before shaking her head and turning from the phone, gripping the clothes in her hand and making it halfway to the bedroom door before the phone began buzzing again. Lexa stopped and turned back to look at the bed, a picture of Clarke and a tan brown-haired girl, laughing, lighting up the screen; the same name “Bird” directly across the top.

_“You really know how to worry someone, don’t you?”_ The girl's voice came through, slightly static, it sounding a bit surprised by the answering. _“The least you can do now is lie and tell me that you didn’t drink anything.”_

“Sorry,” Lexa started, slightly regretting picking up the phone and shaking her head at herself, “My names Lexa, I’m one of Abby’s farmhands. I came upstairs to grab Clarke a change of clothes and saw the messages, I just answered so I could tell you-”

_“She drank enough that she passed out, didn’t she?”_ Raven interrupted, which caused Lexa to stop at the beginning of her explanation and stand silently next to the bed. 

“Probably a bit more than that.” She finally and honestly, hesitated back in reply, hearing a heavy and disappointed breath followed by a _Fuck_ from the girl on the other end of the phone.

_“How many bottles of wine?”_ She asked her, surprising Lexa again.

“At least three, I think she spilled more than she drank.” She responded back, not taking a beat between the question and reply.

_“New record.”_ The girl sarcastically threw back, seeming to ignore the second half of Lexa's reply and scoffing something under her breath that wasn’t loud enough to be made out; Lexa could practically feel her eyes rolling from the other end of the phone. _“I’ll call her in the morning, thanks for picking up.”_

“It’s no problem, I just thought you would-”

_“Lexa, right?”_ She confirmed while interrupting her a second time, her voice almost coming through as a bit of a laugh, _“I’m Raven.”_

“I’ll make sure she answers your call tomorrow, Raven.” Lexa replied, thinking a little too much about how the inflexion in her voice had changed.

_“Thanks.”_ Raven said again, voice humming around another second before hanging up.


	8. YOUR HELP

The walk from Clarke’s room back to the porch felt like it took much longer than it should have. Lexa exited the house and follow the wrap of the porch around the side of it and down, a small dutch door sat near the end of it and to her right; this one much thinner and shorter than the door in the front was. It was slightly open as she approached, a light on and shining onto her from inside. She walked in and closed the door behind her, which brought her directly into the small kitchen, which she passed through to reach the room at the back. A single bed was against the wall to her left, one table with two chairs at the opposite, a small window on the wall above the bed, one in the kitchen, and a larger one next to the table. The whole unit was about the size of the room Lexa was staying in while working at the farm; though Gustus’ had a tiny bathroom tucked behind a pocket door next to the kitchen.

Lexa had only been inside of what they had all jokingly and adoringly named “Gustus’ Hut” a couple of dozen times. Most of those times were when she had first begun working for Abby, and Gus would invite her in for a break from the sun in the afternoons. The thought of the unit caused her to smirk, this was the first place that had felt like home, in a long time.

The wall above the table was littered with what could have been hundreds of pictures, the majority of them Clarke as a young girl. A handful were of Gus and her, three or four of Abby and Gus, or Jake and Gus. Only one picture tucked off to the side was of all of them, Clarke was seated on Gustus’ knee and smiling widely with some missing teeth; cheeks chubby and red, all of them looking to and smiling at her. It was one of the few pictures she had seen of Jake, Abby hadn’t had any up in the house.

Gus stood from the table when Lexa walked in, him looking over to the bed where Clarke was laid down, her doing the same. He did his best to smile, before Lexa hesitated a noise and brought out her hand with the shirt and sweatpants.

“I did my best to clean up her hand and lip, the cut was pretty deep. She’ll feel that one when she sobers up.” Gustus said, shifting his eyes away from her and clearing his throat. 

“She fell down the stairs, Gus.” Lexa added, laughing out once in discomfort before glancing over to her for a second time, the blood that had been smeared along her face for the good part of an hour now gone. 

“I don’t know whether or not she fell from the top- But I know she’ll be feeling a lot more than the cut on her hand.” Lexa finished. 

Gus responded with a disappointed nod to her, which turned into a shake not a second later; him finally looking down at the clothes that Lexa had continued to hold out to him.

“Would you mind dressing her?” He asked as he noticed them, “It’s been a good few years since she was a little girl. I’m sure she would appreciate anyone but me doing it.” He coughed out a wheeze of laugh, which Lexa knew was a discomfort as hers had been. 

“Hell, she would probably let Abby do it if it came down to the two of us.” He added, still coughing out his laugh while Lexa’s hand remained extended to him. She finally retracted it as his words met her, bringing the clothes back in; knowing he had meant to be funny with what he said about her letting Abby do it, but that he had also meant it, in a way.

“It’ll take me at least twenty minutes to get the horses in the barn for the night. If you can get her changed before then, I’ll take her up to her room when I get back.” Gus finished, him shooting Lexa the bit of a smile he could. She mouthed a _Yes_ and a _Sure_ back to him in kind of a hesitant agreeance, before he nodded and turned out of the room, exiting the dutch door from the kitchen and closing it behind him.

The unit was silent as he left, which had Lexa stand in the middle of it and look back to Clarke; still holding her clothes in her hand. Clarke was rolled on her side, hair messily laid on the bed under her head and up around the front of her face; the light blue dress she had on when she arrived now stained in different spots with blood and wine. The room began to smell of that and cigarettes the longer she stood in place. 

She finally walked to the bed, placing herself to sit along the edge of it, which had the mattress creak and dip down slightly from her weight. Clarke’s body folding towards her and her torso meeting with Lexa’s back. The longer Lexa sat, the more hesitant she felt, doing her best to ignore the feeling and placing the clothes at Clarke’s feet; she knew that she would probably appreciate not waking having to wake up smelling of wine and looking of blood. Telling herself this didn’t do much to make her feel any better. 

Lexa brought her hands to the mattress, holding the sheets in between her palms for a moment, before she sighed and turned herself to Clarke; dragging her hands up to her, then blinking before tucking them under her shoulders. She brought her forward and up, leaning her forward into her shoulder. Clarke’s body was almost completely limp as she did it, but seemed to be aware of some of the movement while was adjusted up. Lexa shifted her weight around against her and then brought her hands down to the bottom of her dress, pulling it up to her back, then bringing her hand in front to do the same. She got both sides up to her neck and pulled over her head in a bit of a struggle by the time Clarke began to mumble words at her.

“I don’t need your help.” She exhaled, her breath still littered with wine and cigarettes; even worse than what she had been wearing was. Lexa rolled her eyes a bit at her words, saying nothing in return as she pulled the dress the rest of the way off of her arms, dropping it to the floor and placing her back down before immediately reaching for the shirt at the end of the bed. 

“I don’t-” Clarke protested a second time, fidgeting in place before her sentence dropped. Lexa turned her head back to look at her, eyes lingering across the skin of her torso for what she knew was just a moment too long; quickly bringing her eyes away and looking down to her feet, breathing in and out.

“You do.” Lexa replied to her, mostly for herself. Before looking up again, her answer having Clarke mumbling off and quickly silencing back out of whatever bit of consciousness she had. Lexa finished grabbing her shirt and brought it to her, pulling it over her head and then lifting her shoulders to work it down; watching as the fabric slid down her skin and covered her torso completely. She did her best to tuck Clarke’s arms in through the sleeves, having to reach a hand up and under her shirt while putting her own through it to meet Clarke’s hand and pull it out of the end. 

It was a good moment of discomfort and fidgeting around for her when she finally met with Clarke’s hand, feeling the warmth from her body in the process; doing her best to ignore what she could of the feeling of it. It took her not a second longer to get her other arm in the sleeve, resting Clarke back on the bed before rolling the oversized fabric up to her wrists. 

Lexa managed to bring Clarke’s sweatpants on her without too much of a struggle, lifting her legs one by one and wriggling them up to meet the shirt at her hips. The only bit of struggle being her hesitation and trying not stare too long; her recognition of the feelings she knew she shouldn’t be feeling causing her some more discomfort. She felt like she had already known Clarke for years, Abby and Gustus’ stories making the groggy and drunken girl in front of her seem like less of a stranger than she really was.

She remained on the bed for another moment or two, before leaning forward for Clarke's dress and then standing, making her way through the kitchen to the dutch door; glancing back at Clarke for one last look before pulling the door open and exiting onto the porch. The moonlight was now flooding the fields around her, lighting up what seemed to be every strand of grass and every leaf on the trees. 

The air around her was a welcomed difference to what Clarke had made it inside of the small unit. Lexa made her way around the porch, shoes clicking on the wood of it in the process, until she met with the courtyard in front of the house and came down the steps; looking forward from her place and at the barn with was lit up on the inside, a horses shadow, along with Gustus’, flowing out along the dirt of the drive.


	9. JUST LIKE HER

“She’s dressed now.” Lexa said, voice carrying out across the barn and in unison with the creaking of the barn door before stepping inside. 

Gustus was standing at the horse stall closest to the door, patting the white filly they called Paz on the nose and then sliding the gate closed. He nodded to her words as it shut and he locked it, not yet lifting his head to look at her before moving to the sink and rinsing his hands; grabbing the rag from his shoulder to dry them.

“Thank you.” Gus finally replied, which had Lexa nod to him in recognition like he had to her. He flashed what he could of a smile and she did the same, before turning from the inside of the barn and back out towards the courtyard.

“Lexa.” Gustus called out, not very loudly, at that, which had her pause in her place before turning back to him. “I’ll take the dress, I think its best if Abby and her don’t see it.” 

“Yeah- of course.” Lexa mumbled back at him, shaking her head back and forth a few times too many to seem okay after the nights events. He moved forward to her and she stepped once or twice to him, Gustus grabbing the dress and chucking it in the sink he had just cleaned his hands at; some water filled up in it, the dress becoming soaked by it not a second later.

“Don’t let this make you think any less of her.” Gustus said, beginning to rub his hands along his rag again. His words made Lexa glance from the sink to him, his eyes were apologetic.

“Why would-”

“I know it never made you think any less of Abby,” Gustus continued, stopping her reply and slinging the rag over his shoulder again, “but Clarke-” he paused, huffing out. Lexa knew he hadn’t wanted to continue with what he was going to say.

The conversation stopped for a few moments, the sounds of the horses settling into their stalls filling up the barn, but nothing else. Lexa breathed out and looked back at the sink, the water now completely covering the dress; wine beginning to seep out and change it to red.

“She kept telling me she isn’t like Abby.” Lexa told him, which had Gustus look up from the hay covered floor of the barn and huff out a second time.

“She would.” Gus chuckled out, the chuckle was painful like it had been most of the times she had heard it that night. 

“Clarke’s a lot more like her than she would ever care to admit.” He finished, then walked over to the hay stacked on the right side of the barn and sitting on top of the lowest layer of it, bringing his hands to either of his knees.

“I think she knows that.” Lexa added, continuing to stand in the doorway as she looked to him and then outside to the stars.

“I think she does too.” Gustus agreed, clearing his throat. The conversation settling back into silence.

“This doesn’t make me think less of her.” Lexa said, having Gustus nod his head slowly up and down.

“I knew it wouldn’t.” He replied, then stopping for another second. “I’ll bring her to her room in a bit, you don’t have to wait up.” 

Lexa nodded and turned her head back to him, watching as he stared down at the floor before she hummed an _Okay_ and made her way out of the barn; her body being illuminated by the light inside and causing a shadow on the dirt, like his had when she saw him from the porch.

“Thank you.” Gustus said, his voice trailing off a bit before it met her ears.

“Goodnight, Gus.” Lexa replied.

She made it up to her room and into her bed no more than three minutes after leaving Gustus at the barn, slipping herself under the covers and nuzzling them up the her chin; Lexa’s body moulding itself into the mattress as she stretched out her neck and released a breath. 

Her elbow stung heavily as she adjusted her place in bed again, causing her to wince her eyes and pull off of it, leaning towards her bedside table to turn on the light. She rolled, flipping her arm so she could see it, blinking and moving a bit closer to the light; her elbow and the back of her arm completely covered in purple. She mumbled at the sight of it, seething a soft _Fuck_ in the middle of the sentence as she finished adjusting her arm and noticed the blood that had dried along it. The pain of the bruise on her arm showed itself finally, bringing her more discomfort than she had wanted to be in while trying to settle into sleep.

She grumbled at the pain of it, finally deciding to drag her legs out from under the blankets and walk to the bathroom across the hall from her room. Lexa entered in and clicked on the light, the white-tiled bathroom lighting up brightly in front of her, causing her to wince until her eyes could adjust to the light. She made her way to the sink and turned on the cold tap, turning around and opening the small closet door behind her that held all of the towels and linens. It didn’t take her long to pull out an old dark facecloth and place it next to the sink.

The dried blood ran off of Lexa’s arm as she dabbed it with her fingers and the cold water, the feeling of it soothing. It didn’t take long for her to clean off the blood, then soaking the cloth under the water and bringing it against her elbow; holding it in place on the bruise. She huffed out, adjusting her back against the counter and then hopping herself onto it to sit; her mind numbing as the pain from her bruise settled into nothing. It didn’t take her much longer before she forgot the pain in her arm, placing down the cloth down on the bathroom counter and making her way back to her bed, crawling in to sleep.

It was some time later when the creaking of the hallway woke Lexa from her sleep, having her roll over onto her opposite side and look towards it; the light from the bathroom still on. It was clicked off not a moment later, and the darkness settled completely in, moonlight from her room being just enough for her to see into the hall. Clarke was mumbling something aloud as they came up it, though it wasn’t anything that Lexa could really make out in her half-asleep state; the sound of Gustus’ hushes coming after it. Lexa yawned for a long minute, stretching out her arms and tucking one under her pillow to support her head. Her mind lulling itself in and out of what she assumed was sleep, though her body felt restless, mind the opposite and seeming more exhausted than it had in months.

Gustus passed by Lexa’s room not a second after she reopened her eyes to look back towards the hall, noticing Clarke stumbling her way with him while being supported by his arms around her shoulders; her feet not seeming to know which direction was forward. Lexa blinked again, hearing the door of Clarke’s room creak open, the same sound the hallway made, before she rolled herself over in bed; hearing some more of Clarke’s mumbling, followed by a reply from Gustus.

Lexa didn’t manage to make out any of the conversation before beginning to fall back into a bit of sleep. Clarke’s door clicking shut before hers did, her mind focusing on the sound of the branches of the trees outside her window swaying back and forth in the wind.


	10. DALMATIAN

“I know I did.” Clarke said, voice rasping out as she attempted to pull herself from sleep. Raven’s voice humming back in reply, displeased from the other end of the phone. She hadn’t had enough time to open her eyes before answering the call, almost groaning to herself at the head ache beginning to throb around her temple.

“Listen, I really need a shower.” She told Raven, trying her best to end the conversation, not that it was one she wanted to have in the first place. “Yeah, okay. Okay- I’ll text you after.”

The call ended, which had Clarke release a heavy breath and toss her phone to the foot of her bed, clearing her throat before rolling herself over to her right side. Her eyes still closed as she huffed out and quickly gagged at the smell of her own breath.

“Abby was wondering when you’d be down for breakfast.” Lexa’s voice broke out around the room, which had Clarke lift her head from her pillow, just slightly; looking towards the door where her voice had come from.

“I’m not sure I’ll be eating.” She quickly replied, adjusting herself onto her elbow and noticing her bag was completely packed at the end of the bed; no clothes thrown around the room. Clarke blinked a few times, the sun that trickled in through the windows causing them to sting back at her. Lexa nodded a bit before her reply.

“I’ll start a shower for you, there’ll be food waiting if you end up being hungry.” Lexa said, humming a bit.

“Yeah,” Clarke started, “thank you.” Then shaking her head back and forth, not having yet realized the pain her body was holding until she attempted to adjust herself up a second time. Groaning out an almost silent _Fuck_ , and then moving back down. Lexa winced at her in the doorway, before turning out and creaking the door almost completely closed on her way.

Clarke laid on her back for a long moment after Lexa left, finally forcing herself the rest of the way awake after a few yawns; the drunken haze from her night of drinking still sitting predominantly in her bones.

She could hear the shower being started from the bathroom on the opposite side of the wall from her bed, which had her bring her hands up to her face and rub, feeling a bandage meet her cheek. It confused her for only a moment before the pain from the wine glass cut on her palm screeched back at her, causing her to flinch it away. Finally noticing the long sleeves of her shirt rolled up at her wrists as she looked to her hand; she hadn’t yet realized she wasn’t wearing the dress she had arrived in.

The door of the bathroom creaked and then clicked closed, the footsteps of Lexa making their way down the hall until the upstairs sat silent from everything but the running water in the shower. Clarke moved her legs out from under the blankets, hanging them over the side of her bed before taking a breath and standing to meet the wood floor; the coolness from it seeping through to meet with the warmth of her toes.

She managed her way across her room to the hall and then the bathroom, it taking much longer than she would have liked. Her legs in pain the whole way before she grabbed the handle of the door and twisted it open; the accumulated heat and humidity from the running water meeting with her face as she walked in, it waking her up more than she had managed to her herself. Clarke closed the door behind her, turning her head to look at the large mirror above the sink; the oversized top and sweatpants she was wearing a bit of a surprise to her. She almost smirked to herself in not remembering being changed, an uncomfortable smirk, with the same feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach as she thought harder of the night and managed to remember nothing.

Sitting along the side of the counter furthest from the door was a cloth, a small tube of polysporin and one large butterfly bandaid. Clarke groaned out a bit at the look of it, knowing well enough it was for her hand, even though she hadn’t taken the time to look at the extent of it since she realized it was wrapped and painful. Instead she brought herself to stand on the small bath-rug in front of the shower, the sound of the water hitting the tile and trickling down the drain meeting with her ears.

It took Clarke about five minutes to take off her shirt, bra, sweatpants and underwear, the amount of time it would have taken on a usual day less than thirty seconds. Her body seemed to pain her at every bit of movement, which caused the regret of her night continue to build as she realized it. She ran her fingers along the side of her hip as her sweats met with the floor, the dark purple and green of a large bruise looking back at her before she rolled her eyes and slid open the door to the shower.

The pain that echoed through Clarke’s side as her body met completely with the tiled floor of the shower was something she hadn’t exactly wanted to experience this morning, if ever again, for that matter. Her knee collided with the tile before her side managed to, head banging against the wall of the shower as she tried to catch herself mid-fall; both her knee and head throbbing the second she landed on the floor.

“Fuck me-” She groaned, grabbing the back of her head and arching her back.

“Clarke!” Gustus’ voice trailed towards the bathroom from downstairs not a second after she landed, her name continuing a few times as he met with the hall, footsteps frantic and heavy leading to the bathroom.

“I’m fine!” She yelled back, though not entirely fine. Then bringing her knees up to her chest and continuing to hold the back of her head. The sitting had her look around her body for a second, meeting her eyes to all of the bruises that had formed on her overnight.

“I look like a fucking Dalmatian.” Clarke groaned out, which gave her a second to laugh at herself amidst her discomfort.

Gustus’ voice mumbled something from the other side of the door, which Clarke hadn’t been able to make out over the sound of the running shower. She shifted her place on the floor, reaching her hand up to the faucet and turning it until the water just barely trickled onto the tile; the noise ceasing almost completely. Gustus finished his speaking as it did.

“Clarke, are you okay?” Lexa’s voice called out from the other side of the door, her knuckles rapping on the wood of it. Clarke moved herself forward as she asked, pulling the towel Lexa had left for her on the hook just outside the shower into it. Bringing it onto herself and doing her best to stand from the tile.

“Clarke-” Lexa began again.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She hastily answered back, finishing her wrapping of the towel and bringing her hand to her side to push herself up. Mumbling a _Fuck_ as her legs whined under her weight, neither of them doing much good in getting her off the shower floor.

Gustus hummed back at her, knowing well enough that Clarke wouldn't have wanted his help. He spoke something else and then turned from the door, the sound of him making his way down the hall meeting Clarke’s ears a moment later. She counted out ten seconds under her breath, knowing the amount of time it took to get to the stairs from her room.

“Lexa?” Clarke called out, not very loudly for the most part, which was met with an immediate _Mhm_ from the other side of the door. She could practically hear Lexa adjusting her jaw back and forth as she stood waiting for her to reply.

“I don’t know if I can get up.” Clarke said, part of her laughing at herself and then humming in place at the pressure in her head. Her legs throbbing in pain and knee already dark red, she could feel the bruise beginning to form under it.

“Do you need my help?” Lexa asked, her voice filling up the hall and coming through the door; Clarke could hear her rap her knuckles softly against the wood for a second time.

“Would it be completely pathetic if I did?” Clarke replied, shuffling around on the tile and chuckling in embarrassment at herself as she tried to stand again.

Lexa opened the door to the bathroom not a moment later, it creaking out and then stopping as it met with the linen closet behind it. Clarke did her best to adjust her place on the floor, which prompted Lexa down to the tile of the shower; the knees of her pants immediately soaking up what was leftover of the water on it, her turning the shower the rest of the way off as she did. Clarke’s body ached out as she was helped to stand, arm throbbing even more than it had been as Lexa supported her onto her feet and moved her to sit on the toilet-seat next to the counter. Clarke almost slipping on a bit of water as she reached it, her arm that was grabbing her towel clutching Lexa instead, it dipping down her back and slipping off of her slightly.

“Do you want me to grab you something to wear?” Lexa asked, seating Clarke as quickly as she could before pulling her towel back up to her arms to re-cover her; noticing the many scattered bruises along her arms and upper legs in the process.

“As long as you can make sure whatever it is will cover these bruises.” Clarke painfully laughed out again, nodding, eyes meeting Lexa with a grin that she gave back to her, adding her own nod to the end of it.

It didn’t take Lexa long to come back with a change of clothes for Clarke, grabbing the pair she had left on the ground and taking it to the hamper in her room. Clarke dressed herself as well as she could, needing some help to get her shirt completely over her head because of the pain in her arms. Then Lexa helped her clean her hand, Clarke holding the cut in the middle of it together while Lexa brought over the butterfly bandaid to bring on. Clarke’s eyes meeting with her collar bones as she leaned forward towards her, looking around them for a moment.

“Does Abby-”

“No.” Lexa immediately replied, cutting her off, then pulling the paper-like pieces from the bandaid and chucking them into the garbage. “Abby doesn’t know about last night, and she left with Thelonious just after I came up to see if you were joining us for breakfast. She won't know that you fell, either.”

Lexa continued to look down at Clarke’s hand, smiling a bit as she pressed down the bandaid and then stood back up. Clarke’s eyes not wavering from the skin around her neck.

“She couldn’t have come up to ask herself?” Clarke huffed out slightly, not actually minding that her Mother hadn't come up. Finally moving her eyes from Lexa’s collarbones and instead settling on the tattoo that peaked through her tank top along her spine; the one on her arm the same. She almost smirked at them again before her eyes glanced to the large dark bruise on the back of Lexa’s arm.

“Gus asked me if I would be the one to get you after Abby wanted to come up.” Lexa said, turning to face Clarke again, which had her pull her eyes off as quickly as they had seemed to look.

“That was probably the best idea.” Clarke replied, nodding, looking back at her knee and the bruise that started along it. Lexa nodded a bit in agreeance. Both of them remaining in the bathroom as they became silent and nothing but the breezes past the bathroom window could be heard.

“There’s food for you downstairs, like I said there would be. I can heat it up?” Lexa finally said.

“Yeah, thank you.” Clarke replied, smiling at her a bit again. Lexa returning half of it before turning out of the bathroom, Clarke watching the bruise on her arm as she went.

Clarke remained sitting while the sound of Lexa's footsteps made their way down the hall; counting to ten in her head until they left the hallway and continued down the stairs.


End file.
